Here where I live, in Central Washington – {Yakima, Washington to be exact} – we normally have loads of snow each year. This year? Nothing. While it seems like everyone else in the country is being overloaded with snow, we’ve had one powdered-sugar style dusting. So weird. And totally disappointing to me, since I love snow. But, it’s still pretty cold. And when it’s cold, I totally get in the mood for soup! If you’re a winter soup lover too, then you’ll love this collection of awesome winter soup recipes!

This Tortellini Soup is one of my very favorites. So, I’ll share that recipe, plus a bunch of my other favorites, in the list below. Then you’ll have a ton of awesome soup ideas for the next month, until we warm up for summer :)

7 Winter Soup Recipes

Are you hungry yet? I am :) You can add french bread, toasty garlic rounds like I share in the first recipe, the one shown in the pic above – or some homemade cornbread, to make it a meal. {I’m a carb-lover, so I always need some type of bread at each meal!}

Want more Winter inspiration? Well, I’m not the only one sharing seven things about winter! Check out my fellow Chosen Chix and some of their thoughts on winter:

Easy Mealtime Hacks

You guys know how I’m all about what I call “smart solutions for busy moms,” right? Things like how to keep the house looking clean – the easy way. Quick and easy recipes. Fun fashion that’s still comfy enough for chasing a toddler around. Stuff like that. Which is why I’m super happy to partner with Van’s Foods this month to share some of their super clever mealtime hacks… Plus a great giveaway too! Check it out….

Hello from Van’s Foods!

We know how busy life can be for Van’s foods fans. Between work, working out, parenting, driving, walking, riding, creating, days get full – fast. Some meals are easy, and you’ve got plenty of time to plan, shop and put together something delicious.

Other times, there’s yoga or soccer or Scouts or a late meeting, and you need something fast and easy that you can still feel good about eating.

Which brings us to our gift to you this month – easy, nutritious mealtime hacks from your friends at Van’s. They’re all delicious, nutritious and a cinch to pull together.

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group®, Litter Genie® and Fancy Feast®, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #Catparents http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV.

When I used to work in retail, the younger girls made fun of me. They said that because I was near 30, no kids yet, not married, and owned a stray cat I’d adopted, that I’d end up being an old crazy cat lady. This was at The Buckle, where they make a sort of “account” for you when you shop. So that later, when you come back, we can tell you exactly what size and style of jeans you bought last time, that sort of thing. Well, a year after I stopped working there, and was shopping, and my friends weren’t there anymore, the person ringing me up started laughing. He didn’t want to tell me, so I looked at the screen, and under my name, for info, it said, “Crazy cat lady.” Well played my friends, well played <3

At the time, it seemed a likely future for me. But then that stray cat was lost, I moved, I had a baby, and bought a house. Getting out of crazy cat lady territory. And then…. this last Christmas eve, my Mister brought home a surprise kitten for Abby’s Christmas present, and I became a cat lady once again….

This post is brought to you by VTech and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.

Hey guys! I’m super excited to let you know about an uh-MAY-zing new product, and a chance to win it yourselves at a Twitter party today! It’s the Vtech Safe&Sound® Pan & Tilt Full Color Video Monitor. Many of us think about a monitor like this as a “baby monitor,” that we’d only use for our infants. But this is SO much more than that, and can totally give you peace of mind, all the way through the preschool years, and more. Check it out:

Vtech Safe&Sound® Pan & Tilt Full Color Video Monitor

This is the coolest thing I’ve seen in quite awhile. And after working with Best Buy as a Blogging Ambassador the past few years, you know I’ve seen a LOT of cool technology, right? But this is something that really is life changing, as cheesy as that sounds. I’ll give you some info on it here, let you know how you can WIN one today {WOO HOO!} and then tomorrow I’ll be following up with a post showing you how I use it daily to make my mom life SO much easier, and keep my little one safer – and ideas on how you can use it in your daily life too! :) [Read more…]

Welcome to the #WAHMhop event! I’ve partnered with a bunch of my favorite bloggers to share tips and tricks to help anyone out there who’s interested in starting their own business, or making money from home, get a jump start to success!

So, I’m not an expert, but I’ve been blogging for over 4 years, and have been pretty successful. So, I want to share my tips with you guys, in the hopes they may help you too!

1. Business Plan: Every business must have a plan. Because if you don’t know where you want to be, how will you know how to get there? I have seen many friends start small businesses, of many kinds, that failed. Not because they didn’t have amazing ideas, talent, or work ethic – but because they didn’t have a plan. There’s a great article I refer to each year from Problogger – How to Make a Blogging Business Plan. It has some great questions to consider. Myself personally, here’s what I do: Answer these questions, each year, because your focus does sometimes change. Think about where you want to be in a year. Make 3 big goals. Then break those down into one goal per month. Then each month I write down 3 steps to reach that goal. It makes it all more doable, helps you focus your energy and time, and keeps you on track. This is how I reached a full time income within one year of blogging. You CAN do it, if you plan wisely :) [Read more…]

I participated in this sponsored campaign about the Evenflo Symphony DXL on behalf of One2One Network. All opinions stated are my own. #EvenfloPlatinum

Evenflo: A Brand Moms Trust

When it comes to gear for our kids, we all have brands we love and trust. One of those in our house is Evenflo. I had an Evenflo stroller when Abby was a baby. I used a couple of different carriers, back when she was still small enough for me to carry around. We used a ton of their toddler feeding products. This is definitely a brand I feel confident in, and that has grown with us from the time Abby was an infant to now, as a 4 year old. [Read more…]